A conversation with Steve Jobs

Reviewer: David E. Ross

Denning and Frenkel interviewed Steve Jobs and Daniel Lewin (Jobs's marketing vice-president) about their philosophy of managing the computer manufacturer NeXT, Inc. Rather than attempting to create a computer that will be all things to all people, Jobs has focused narrowly on higher education as his market. Within that market, he attempts to design to his customers' expressed needs instead of foisting his own definition of needs onto his customers. (A sidebar describes how Lewin constantly monitors the needs of NeXT's customers.) Of course, educators make up a sophisticated customer base that can clearly express its needs with no room for later debate over whether a product meets assumed specifications. Jobs expresses sensitivity for the needs and feelings of NeXT's technical and professional employees. He describes management by consensus and shows an appreciation for the fact that his technical employees are not interchangeable assembly line workers. A sidebar describes the robotic NeXT assembly line; perhaps minimizing the human participation in assembly line activity makes it easier for Jobs to treat his other employees as individuals with distinct abilities who make distinct contributions. In addition to describing design and implementation decisions for NeXT products, Jobs gives his views on such issues as hacking, interactive video (he feels that canned video will be replaced by synthesized imagery), and computer-based libraries. Jobs was reluctant to play fortune-teller and declined to make any specific predictions about the future of NeXT or the computer industry. He also refused to discuss NeXT's relationship with IBM.